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Integrated Townships And Designer Homes - It’s All About Living In Style And Comfort
Posted by Pradeep Sadanapalli | June 2, 2007 | 2,403 views
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With nearly 20 integrated township in the pipeline, it is to be seen whether they will succeed in meeting the Indian needs, writes M. SAI GOPAL.
Times are changing. So are the tastes of the young and the restless. Gone are the days of four walls and a roof for a home. The very definition of a home, these days, is under metamorphosis.
The young IT professionals with both husband and wife putting up long working hours and a lot of wealth to spare, demand more than what an individual house could offer. This craving has fuelled the sudden surge and ‘talk’ about Integrated Townships.
The city is also having its tryst with Integrated Townships. Earlier this year, Hyderabad Urban Development Authority had identified a consortium of companies to develop a Rs. 3,500 crore Integrated Township at Tellapur.
A township with residential, commercial, office complexes, multiplexes, entertainment, schools, hospitals capable of generating employment opportunities on its own in addition to catering to employees of IT and other sectors, is being envisaged at Tellapur.
There are more in the pipeline and for that to happen, completion of 162 km ORR remains vital. HUDA has lined up over 20 such projects along ORR to be taken up in a phase wise manner.
In many instances, the integrated townships are envisaged either within the campus or along peripheries of SEZs, an example being the Hill County of Maytas at Bachupally. Those supporting the integrated townships list out the many advantages that it offers. The administration of such townships becomes easier for the society will take the responsibility of its management, the basic essentials such as electricity, water, sewer and telecommunications can be catered to comfortably and the much needed security factor can be addressed more efficiently.
However, there are impediments, uncertainties and a constant fear that Integrated Townships would end up serving the wealthy and remain a ‘distant dream’ for salaried class. “The advantages of such townships are multi-pronged. However, I personally feel that they would end up catering only to the wealthy,” points out Chairman for AP Chapter of Builders Association of India, S. Chandrasekhar Reddy.
Getting approvals from various departments by cutting across the maze of red tape, organising funds for such huge projects and above all fighting against in-ordinate delays, are some challenges in developing integrated townships. To cut down on the delays, officials point out that the developers would be given a specified period of time to complete at least 50 per cent of the project. Industry experts already point out that several of such projects envisaged in Bangalore and Mumbai are in danger of getting delayed because of the ‘funds crunch’ and this could affect Hyderabad too in the long run.
The Central Government had recently decided to prevent ‘External Commercial Borrowings’ into integrated townships. This means, foreign investment would be stipulated in developing such projects.
“Funds have to be generated domestically for these projects implying, there could be more delay. Already in the city, the going rates for such projects are pretty high. In this background, these townships would definitely be out of reach for the middle class,” another industry observer says.
Then there is the question of harnessing this predominantly western concept to suit the Indian sensibilities. Instances are being given of resorts at city outskirts, which cropped up in large numbers in the recent past, finding it difficult to sustain.
“Integrated townships have to be planned keeping in mind the Indian psyche and living habits. Developers need large numbers and for that they have to think in terms of catering to all sections of the society and not just one IT and Biotech sector,” says D.T. Vinod Kumar from AP Chapter of Indian Institute of Architect.
“They are definitely a positive development. The challenge is, whether developers would be able to style this into something Indian. Can they deliver the Western Class with an Indian touch?” asks Y. Kiron, CEO of SuchirIndia.
SOURCES:
The Hindu
Topics: Real Estate |
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